IPL 2020| SRH vs CSK: What Experts said as a remodelled Chennai take vital two points off a hapless Hyderabad

For the first time in the entire season, Chennai Super Kings played a game for what they have been known for years, ‘intent’. Yes, that was the word of the match as the Yellow Army defeated the Orange Brigade of David Warner by 20 runs in an intensely fought battle in Dubai. 

Winning the toss and batting first, skipper MS Dhoni from the word go showed what he wanted to achieve in this game. With the craze of chasing fading in the tournament and spinners coming into the play abundantly, Dhoni’s decision turned out to be a great move as his team scored a competitive 167 courtesy of some attacking batting by Sam Curran in the beginning and Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu in the middle.  

The bowlers were superb for Chennai and picked up wickets at regular interval to hand Hyderabad a loss they deserved. 

Captains' Viewpoint

With a long chat by Dhoni in the last game’s post-match presentation ceremony against Royal Challengers Bangalore, one thought that he only speaks much in lost causes, but in this game too, it was just difficult to stop him.  

Speaking at the ceremony, Dhoni underscored the importance of the two points that his team earned after back to back losses. “Ultimately what really matters is you getting two points. What T20s have shown is that there are a few games that don't go your way and then there are some that go your way even when you haven't earned it,” he said. 

Satisfied with the work done by his teammates, the captain cool said, “Today I felt we did a very good job even in the batting. There was some purpose with the bat and the batsmen assessed the situation very well.” 

But batting wasn’t the only thing that impressed the captain. He was quick to point out the importance of planned execution in bowling while defending a mid-level total of 160-170, which the CSK bowlers did today.  

“With a total like 160, it all depends on the start you get in the first six overs. The fast bowlers did the job, the spinners came into play and it was one game that was as close to being perfect. A lot depended on the fast bowlers. I just told them to be expressive on the field and hit their areas,” the captain said. 

Further adding to the same point he said that the execution of the plan is the most important thing in the game. “There are some two-paced balls, some swing and some don't swing, and some get an extra bounce. What was needed was good execution of the plans and that was done by the fast bowlers,” he said. 

Reasoning as to why he played another spinner in Piyush Chawala and left the youngster Jagadeesan, who did quite well in the last game that he played here, Dhoni said, “We used an extra spinner because an Indian batter hasn't done well for us. That's why Sam Curran went up and it wasn't fair on Jagadeesan as well to bat at seven or eight. 

It seems that Sam Curran has impressed the captain as he praised him and called him the ‘complete cricketer’. “You need a seaming all-rounder, he plays the spinners well and he can give us those 15-45 runs. A good left armer is always good to have in the side. You keep wondering whether the ball would come in or leave the batsman,” Dhoni said while praising Curran.  

Giving importance to the ‘process’ in achieving the desired target rather than just the success itself, Dhoni said, “We need to think more about the process, the points table will take care of itself.”

It was vintage Dhoni once again as he concluded by saying, “We need to still see where the errors were in this game and what is important is to not brush anything under the carpet just because we won the game.”

David Warner, the captain of the losing team admitted that his decision of going in with an extra bowler was not right. “The wicket was on the slower side, I think we needed an extra batter,” he said.  

This is the second loss for Hyderabad in a row in games that could have been won by them. Speaking about it, Warner said, “We have to go back to the drawing board and work on few areas. I thought 160 was the right total to go after, but anything above that was always going to be difficult.”

The 33-year-old then said that he has always struggled to play against bowlers swinging the bowl. “It's difficult to play against bowlers who can swing the ball. There's always a challenge in the powerplay, but you have to take on the bowlers,” he said about getting dismissed to Sam Curran. 

Team selection has not been that good for the Sunrises this season and making it a point, the captain said, “We need to monitor the wickets in the upcoming games and select the team accordingly. I think with our team and the depth that we have, we're always going to be one short either way.” 

“Things (in the points table) are always congested in the middle. You got to beat the best teams, to make it to the top. We'll be facing the top teams in the next few days, so I'm up for the challenge and so are the other guys,” concluded Dave after discussing the way forward for the Orange Brigade. 

Expert Opinion:

Experts too looked impressed by the way the Chennai team worked out their plans. Although there was no mention of the incident in which MS Dhoni could be seen intimidating umpire Paul Reiffel for a wide decision, analysts and senior journalists did give a thought to notice the all-important Sam Curran.  

Senior cricket journalist on broadcast, Vimal Kumar too had the same opinion and agreed to Dhoni that Sam Curran is indeed a rare gem for the Super Kings. 

Senior cricket analyst and commentator Harsha Bhogle tried to analyse the match in Dhoni's style of 'boat theory' saying that now it's Hyderabad that have visible holes in their ship. 

The fact that the entire team of CSK came together and pulled out this special victory with a lot of efforts from all its players, was appreciated by senior cricket journalist and columnist Ayaz Memon. 

Boria Majumdar, another famous cricket journalist chose to focus on the good thing as he retweeted an IPL video in which MS Dhoni can be seen parting important advice to youngsters Priyam Garg and Abhishek Sharma. 

This win couldn't have come at a better time for Dhoni and co. as they would now head to a matchup against Delhi Capitals in three days time. For Hyderabad, they indeed need to go the drawing board as suggested by skipper Warner and then come out with a great strategy as they face the Kolkata Knight Riders on 18th of this month.

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